Budget transparency

Published: Sunday, December 2, 2012 at 08:00 AM.

After Haridopolos was term-limited out of the Senate, MacNamara became Gov. Rick Scott’s chief of staff. The Senate transferred management of the program to the governor’s office this summer in accordance with language MacNamara helped secure in the 2012-13 budget. In June, though, MacNamara resigned his post with the governor after reports that he steered state contracts to his friends.

Transparency 2.0 now appears to be in limbo. Neither the governor nor the new House and Senate leaders are embracing it. Senate President Don Gaetz told Klas “it sounds like an orphan nobody wants.” Last year, Gaetz was given a demonstration of a beta version of the program, which Gaetz said was “underwhelming.”

However, the Tampa Bay Times recently requested and received a demonstration of the software, and its editors were impressed. Unfortunately, the contract with Spider Data Systems expires Dec. 31. If it’s not renewed, Transparency 2.0 could disappear, despite the fact that the state already has spent $4.5 million to develop it and the program shows potential.

Earlier this year, Florida Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) released a report that showed Florida was falling behind other states in budget transparency, especially with regard to online portals. Florida’s website (facts.fldfs.com) was criticized for being difficult to use and for not allowing visitors to search expenditures by keyword or activity, tax expenditures or off-budget agencies.

State officials this month need to decide whether to proceed with Transparency 2.0 or to commit to a similar system. They shouldn’t just let the issue fall through the cracks. As the PIRG report noted, “transparency in government spending promotes fiscal responsibility, checks corruption and bolsters public confidence.”

Gaetz and new House Speaker Will Weatherford have promoted an agenda of improved ethics in government. That’s a must. So is shedding more light on the budget. Ethics and openness complement each other.

Sunshine is the best disinfectant, and nothing could use more light than Florida’s shady state budget.

That’s why the Legislature should move forward with creating a website that provides more transparency on public spending. Unfortunately, it appears to be caught in a web of politics — and the clock is ticking on freeing it.

As reported by Mary Ellen Klas of the Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau, in 2010 the state began developing a software program called Transparency 2.0 that allows users to instantly access various government databases to see how tax dollars are spent, who requested the money and who ultimately benefits.

The features include tracking how much money lobbyists’ clients receive from state business, what expenditures were inserted into the budget at the last minute and the status of every sole-source contract. It even shows how much the state and its contractors spend on travel and office supplies and which companies received favorable terms with one agency and less favorable terms with another.

A lot of that information already is available, but only if one knows what he’s looking for and goes searching for it via public records requests. That could take weeks or months. Transparency 2.0 would make it available at the click of a computer mouse and allow users to browse databases.

That sounds like an exciting and useful tool, not just for legislators and the media but for any private citizen who wants to keep tabs on his government.
Although the program could be a white knight for good government, its origins are a little darker.

The Senate’s then-President Mike Haridopolos reportedly was enthusiastic about the project, even bragging about it on national TV. His chief of staff, Steve MacNamara, arranged for a no-bid contract with Spider Data Systems to develop it. The software firm was started by a former House budget staffer who had hired a close MacNamara friend as its lobbyist.

After Haridopolos was term-limited out of the Senate, MacNamara became Gov. Rick Scott’s chief of staff. The Senate transferred management of the program to the governor’s office this summer in accordance with language MacNamara helped secure in the 2012-13 budget. In June, though, MacNamara resigned his post with the governor after reports that he steered state contracts to his friends.

Transparency 2.0 now appears to be in limbo. Neither the governor nor the new House and Senate leaders are embracing it. Senate President Don Gaetz told Klas “it sounds like an orphan nobody wants.” Last year, Gaetz was given a demonstration of a beta version of the program, which Gaetz said was “underwhelming.”

However, the Tampa Bay Times recently requested and received a demonstration of the software, and its editors were impressed.
Unfortunately, the contract with Spider Data Systems expires Dec. 31. If it’s not renewed, Transparency 2.0 could disappear, despite the fact that the state already has spent $4.5 million to develop it and the program shows potential.

Earlier this year, Florida Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) released a report that showed Florida was falling behind other states in budget transparency, especially with regard to online portals. Florida’s website (facts.fldfs.com) was criticized for being difficult to use and for not allowing visitors to search expenditures by keyword or activity, tax expenditures or off-budget agencies.

State officials this month need to decide whether to proceed with Transparency 2.0 or to commit to a similar system. They shouldn’t just let the issue fall through the cracks. As the PIRG report noted, “transparency in government spending promotes fiscal responsibility, checks corruption and bolsters public confidence.”

Gaetz and new House Speaker Will Weatherford have promoted an agenda of improved ethics in government. That’s a must. So is shedding more light on the budget. Ethics and openness complement each other.